Special exhibition «The FIFA World Cup in Stamps from the Collection of Former Chess World Champion Anatoly Karpov»

To coincide with this year’s FIFA World Cup in Russia, the Liechtenstein National Museum will be showing the special exhibition «The FIFA World Cup in Stamps from the Collection of Former Chess World Champion Anatoly Karpov» from 26 April until 19 August 2018.

The FIFA World Cup is considered the most important sporting event in the world after the Olympic Games. This exhibition showcases FIFA World Cups through the stamp collection of the famous former chess world champion Anatoly Karpov as well as items from the Postal Museum of the Principality of Liechtenstein. The exhibits look back on FIFA World Cup over the years and serve as a reminder of the countries which have hosted the tournament.

Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov was the official chess world champion from 1975 until 1985 and FIDE World Champion from 1993 until 1999. He won many well-known tournaments and is the most successful chess player of all time. In his free time Karpov has an interest in stamps and owns a unique collection of stamps depicting motifs from the world of sport.

The Liechtenstein postal service issued stamps to commemorate the FIFA World Cups of 1954 (Germany), 1974 (Germany), 1982 (Spain), 1990 (Italy), 1998 (France), 2002 (Japan and South Korea) and 2006 (Germany). They were de-signed by Josef Seger, Bruno Kaufmann, Roman Sprenger, Louis Jäger and Sabine Bockmühl. After 2006, the fees demanded by FIFA for the right to produce such commemorative stamps to mark the FIFA World Cup were so high that many countries such as Liechtenstein stopped issuing special editions.

Founded in Paris in 1904, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) organised the first World Cup in 1930. Since then this tournament has tak-en place every four years – with the exception of the 1940s, when it was cancelled due to the Second World War. The first FIFA World Cup was held in Montevideo, Uruguay. The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia will be the 21st edition. In 1977 the FIFA U-20 World Cup was added, followed in 1985 by the FIFA U-17 World Cup and in 1991 by the FIFA Women’s World Cup.